The Trapezuntine emperors were the rulers of the Empire of Trebizond, one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire founded after the Fourth Crusade in 1204, until its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1461. All but two of the Trapezuntine rulers belonged to the Komnenos dynasty, which had previously ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1185. They initially claimed to represent the legitimate line of Roman emperors, in opposition to the Latin Empire in Constantinople, the Laskaris dynasty of the Nicene Empire, and the Komnenos Doukas family of Epirus and Thessalonica. To emphasize their dynastic claim, Trapezuntine emperors from the late 13th century onwards styled themselves as (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Μέγας Κομνηνός,).
Out of the Byzantine claimants that emerged in 1204 and thereafter, the Trapezuntine emperors, despite their illustrious descent, had perhaps the worst position. Not only were they far away from Constantinople in a peripheral province of the empire, but the reputation of the Komnenoi had been severely damaged by the detested last emperor of the dynasty, Andronikos I Komnenos, grandfather of the first Trapezuntine emperor Alexios I . Though they continued to claim to be the legitimate rulers of the entire former Byzantine Empire for decades thereafter, conflict with the Nicene Empire and the Sultanate of Rum in the early 13th century reduced the power of the Trapezuntine emperors. After the fall of Sinope to Sultan Kaykaus I in 1214, the Empire of Trebizond ceased to be a major contender for restoring the Byzantine Empire and became reduced to a small and local power.
After the Nicene Empire under Michael VIII Palaiologos retook Constantinople in 1261, the rulers of Trebizond continued to style themselves as 'Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans' (Greek, Modern (1453-);: βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ Ῥωμαῖων), viewing the Palaiologos dynasty as just another family of usurpers. The Trapezuntine title was altered in 1282, 21 years later, to 'Emperor and Autocrat of all the East, the Iberians, and the Transmarine Provinces' (Greek, Modern (1453-);: βασιλεὺς καὶ αὐτοκράτωρ πάσης Ἀνατολῆς, Ἰβήρων καὶ Περατείας) in order to placate Michael VIII Palaiologos after John II Megas Komnenos of Trebizond married his daughter, Eudokia Palaiologina. The Palaiologoi emperors in Constantinople did not consider the Trapezuntine emperors to be emperors at all, instead typically referring to them as "princes of the Lazes".
Although the Nicene emperors are generally regarded by modern historians to have been the legitimate Byzantine emperors from 1204 to the recapture of Constantinople in 1261, this is only because it was their successor state that eventually retook the city. The emperors in Trebizond and Thessalonica were no less legitimate emperors than those in Nicaea, the distinction only having been made retroactively as the Trapezuntines never succeeded in taking Constantinople and eventually gave up their claim to the Roman title. The line of Komnenos emperors in Trebizond lasted for more than 250 years, far longer than their dynasty had ruled from Constantinople, and outlasted the restored Byzantine Empire under the Palaiologos dynasty by eight years, before it too fell to the Ottoman Empire.
| Portrait | Name | Reign | Succession | Life details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexios I Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός | March/April 1204 – 1 February 1222 (17 years and 10/11 months) with David Komnenos (1204–1212) | Grandson of Andronikos I Komnenos (Byzantine emperor 1183–1185). Captured Trebizond with the aid of Tamar of Georgia. | 1182 – 1 February 1222 (aged 40) Died of natural causes | ||
| Andronikos I Gidos Ἀνδρόνικος Κομνηνός Γίδος | 1 February 1222 – 1235 (13 years) | Son-in-law of Alexios I, possibly became emperor due to Alexios I's sons all being minors | Unknown – 1235 Died of unrecorded causes | ||
| John I Axouchos Ἰωάννης Κομνηνός Ἀξούχος | 1235 – 1237/1238 (2 or 3 years) | Son of Alexios I | Unknown – 1237/1238 Died while playing polo | ||
| Manuel I Megas Komnenos "the Most Fortunate" Μανουήλ Κομνηνός | 1237/1238 – March 1263 (25 or 26 years) | Son of Alexios I | Unknown – March 1263 Died of natural causes | ||
| Andronikos II Megas Komnenos Ἀνδρόνικος Κομνηνός | March 1263 – 1266 (3 years) | Son of Manuel I | Shortly before 1240/1242 – 1266 (aged approx. 26) Died of unrecorded causes | ||
| George Megas Komnenos "the Vagabond" Γεώργιος Μέγας Κομνηνός | 1266 – June 1280 (14 years) | Son of Manuel I | After 1253 – after 1284 Deposed by the Trapezuntine nobility in favor of John II and imprisoned. Later released, attempted to retake the throne in 1284. | ||
| John II Megas Komnenos Ἰωάννης Μέγας Κομνηνός | June 1280 – 16 August 1297 (17 years and 2 months) | Son of Manuel I | 1262/1263 – 16 August 1297 (aged approx. 35) Died of natural causes | ||
| Theodora Megale Komnene Θεοδώρα Μεγάλη Κομνηνή | Autumn 1284 – 1285 (less than a year) | Daughter of Manuel I, briefly usurped the throne from John II | Between 1242 and 1253 – unknown Fled Trebizond in 1285 and disappears from history thereafter, might have gone into exile in Georgia | ||
| Alexios II Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός Παλαιολόγος | 16 August 1297 – 3 May 1330 | Son of John II | Late 1283 – 3 May 1330 (aged 46) Died of the bubonic plague | ||
| Andronikos III Megas Komnenos Ἀνδρόνικος Μέγας Κομνηνός | 3 May 1330 – 8 January 1332 | Son of Alexios II | Unknown – 8 January 1332 Murdered two of his brothers upon his accession to the throne. Died of the bubonic plague like his father. | ||
| Manuel II Megas Komnenos Μανουήλ Μέγας Κομνηνός | 8 January – 23 September 1332 | Son of Andronikos III | 1323/1324 – 21 February 1333 (aged approx. 9) Deposed by his uncle Basil and murdered a few months later | ||
| Basil Megas Komnenos Βασίλειος Μέγας Κομνηνός | 23 September 1332 – 6 April 1340 | Son of Alexios II, usurped the throne from Manuel II | Unknown – 6 April 1340 Possibly poisoned by his first wife, Irene Palaiologina | ||
| Irene Palaiologina Εἰρήνη Παλαιολογίνα | 6 April 1340 – 17 July 1341 | Widow of Basil, illegitimate daughter of Byzantine emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. Seized control of the government after Basil's death. | Unknown lifespan Deposed in favor of Anna and sent back to her family in Constantinople, fate thereafter unknown | ||
| Anna Anachoutlou Ἀννα Μεγάλη Κομνηνή Ἀναχουτλού | 17 July 1341 – August/September 1342 (1 year and 1/2 months) | Daughter of Alexios II. Confined to a monastery as a nun, but escaped in 1341 and seized the throne with the aid of the Lazes. | Unknown – 3 September 1342 Deposed in favor of John III and then strangled to death | ||
| John III Megas Komnenos Ἰωάννης Μέγας Κομνηνός | 4 September 1342 – 3 May 1344 | Grandson of John II. Supported as emperor by the army and the Republic of Genoa. | 1321/1322 – March 1362 (aged approx. 40) Deposed in favor of his father Michael. Died nearly twenty years later, possibly of the plague. | ||
| Michael Megas Komnenos Μιχαήλ Μέγας Κομνηνός | 3 May 1344 – 13 December 1349 | Son of John II and father of John III, proclaimed emperor after a palace coup against John III | 1288/1289 – unknown Forced to abdicate and become a monk. Last attested in 1351 as an exile in Constantinople. | ||
| Alexios III Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός | 13 December 1349 – 20 March 1390 | Son of Basil. Exiled to Constantinople after his father's death in 1340. Proclaimed emperor with the support of the Byzantine emperor John VI Kantakouzenos after Michael's deposition. | 5 October 1338 – 20 March 1390 (aged 51) The longest-reigning emperor. Died of natural causes. | ||
| Manuel III Megas Komnenos Μανουήλ Μέγας Κομνηνός | 20 March 1390 – 5 March 1417 | Son of Alexios III | 16 December 1364 – 5 March 1417 (aged 52) Possibly murdered by his son Alexios IV | ||
| Alexios IV Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Μέγας Κομνηνός | 5 March 1417 – 26 April 1429 | Son of Manuel III; co-emperor since 1395 | 1379 – 26 April 1429 (aged approx. 50) Assassinated by his son John IV | ||
| John IV Megas Komnenos Ἰωάννης Μέγας Κομνηνός | 26 April 1429 – April 1460 (31 years) with Alexander Megas Komnenos | Son of Alexios IV | Before 1403 – April 1460 Died of natural causes | ||
| Alexios V Megas Komnenos Ἀλέξιος Σκαντάριος Μέγας Κομνηνός | April 1460 (very briefly) | Son of the co-emperor Alexander, a son of Alexios IV | 1454 – 1 November 1463 (aged approx. 9) Deposed by his uncle David. Later executed by the Ottomans alongside him. | ||
| David Megas Komnenos Δαβίδ Μέγας Κομνηνός | April 1460 – 15 August 1461 (1 year and 3 months) | Son of Alexios IV | 1408 – 1 November 1463 (aged approx. 55) Settled in Adrianople in exile after the conquest of Trebizond by the Ottoman Empire. Later accused of treachery and executed. |